FPB asks all UK councils and health trusts how long they take to pay suppliers

The exercise, which involves contacting more than 700 different organisations, got underway today (Friday, 28 August).

It is designed to discover how many local authorities and health trusts are paying their suppliers – which are often small businesses – in a reasonable amount of time.

It comes almost a year after the Government urged councils and the NHS to commit to paying their suppliers within 10 days in an attempt to counteract the effects of the recession.

The move also follows the recent release of data showing that, overall, central government departments are managing to settle the majority of invoices from their suppliers within 10 days. The statistics were recently released by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and show, for example, that the Ministry of Defence settled more than 97% of its bills within 10 days during June 2009.

However, the FPB believes its members are much more likely to work for a council or health body, rather than a Whitehall department. As a result, the FPB is hoping to discover exactly how long local authorities and NHS trusts, which number around 470 and 240 respectively, take to pay their suppliers.

The not-for-profit organisation then intends to name and shame those with poor practices, while highlighting the work of those which pay suppliers in good time.

Read more: http://www.fpb.org/news/2240/FPB_asks_all_UK_councils_and_health_trusts_how_long_they_take_to_pay_suppliers.htm

Source: Forum for Private Business

www.ukba.co.uk